Mothers Day

Me and my mum, circa, 1966/67

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Photo by: Brian F. Cornwall

Mothers. Everyone has at least one in their lifetime. As far as I am concerned, we all have a minimum (mini-mum?) of two:

1. The mother who physically birthed us into being and
2. The great Mother Earth who has birthed everything and all of us and sustains us through the abuse she suffers at the hands of her human children. 

Sadly, many mothers share the experience of Mother Earth in the raising of their children. 

Women, strong, beautiful, life-sustaining women. Megan Murphy speaks so eloquently on who we are as women:

Women all have capacity to be mothers. Many of us have acted in a mothering role to young people who were not of our wombs but are no less of our hearts. Many women have children who have walked away from them and there are mothers who have turned away from their offspring. There is pain in these stories and the pain itself is testament to love or a desire to be loved. 

Seek inside yourself. Seek by walking in the forests and by the waters of the great Mother Earth for there is always love for you in these places. The Great Mother will never turn away from you unless you completely ignore her needs and do not care for her at all so that she herself no longer exists - while she exists, so you have life.

Love all of your mothers, for the very idea of their existence implicates your existence. Be thankful to your mothers for the gifts they have brought you and the space they have created for you to love and prosper. Be grateful for the sacrifices mothers have made for you and think of ways, beyond this day, that you can give back - even if that means only walking a good path and living a good life to show you are grateful for the massive gift of life you have been given. 

We will all let each other down at times for we have expectations and that is what creates opportunity for disappointment. For those of us who were hurt as children, let your hurt out now you are grown. Find a kind way to put it down, look at it for what it was and is now and then do your level best to move on without it. 

You may carry the scars of your past as any warrior does, but do not let them define you as ugly or beautiful for they are our stories, written on our skin, in our hearts and on our faces. Be proud that you remain and that you remember how to turn your face to the sun, to feel her heat and light. Feel the love of Mother Earth rise up through the dirt below your feet and through you as a fresh mountain spring, an endless source of light and healing energy. You needn't fear anymore that there is not enough love for you as long as you take time to feel this energy flowing through you.

Each of us was made as a conduit for universal love, light and well-being, so breathe, smile and let go with gratitude for the life our mothers have given us and continue to give us every day.

Gillian Cornwall, c. May 14, 2017

Eunice Audrey Jay - my mum

Photographer unknown - circa 1944?